Three Lives

Three Lives presents three distinct stories, each offering a psychological portrait of a different woman. The narratives feature an exacting German house servant in The Good Anna, an African-American woman's love affair in Melanctha, and the experiences of a patient German maid in The Gentle Lena, all set in the fictional town of Bridgepoint. Stein's innovative style defies traditional narrative structures, establishing her as a key figure in the American Modernist movement and influencing future writers like Hemingway and Kerouac.